Election Returns

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Police and sheriff’s departments in some states ravaged by methamphetamine say they’ll have to scale back efforts to bust manufacturers because federal funds dedicated to cleaning up the toxic sites has dried up.

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced last month that Congressional funding for its Community Oriented Policing Services Methamphetamine Program has been exhausted. Renewed funding is unlikely in the next few years.

The COPS program provided $19.2 million for meth lab cleanup in the current fiscal year.

The announcement leaves several states scrambling to squeeze money out of already stretched budgets to pay cleanup costs. Those costs average about $2,000 per lab but can cost as much as $10,000. The term lab is used to refer to any place meth is made, including in soda bottles inside cars.